Chapter 1

In a luxurious hotel, a couple was carried out, stuck together like conjoined twins, and loaded into an ambulance.

And all of this was orchestrated by me.

When I calmly called my husband, he was desperately trying to control his pain. "Honey, I'm in a meeting."

I gently reminded him, "Since you two love each other so much, why don't you stay together forever?"

I first noticed something was off with Frank when I was on a business trip to South Korea. He posted a photo on Instagram with the caption: "Clear skies, gentle breeze, the Maldives sea is especially blue today."

He was on his annual leave while I was away, visiting the Maldives he had been dreaming of. The photo was a group shot with his colleagues and friends.

The seemingly ordinary group photo caught my attention for an unusual detail. My husband was originally wearing a pair of swim trunks I had given him, but they had mysteriously disappeared in the group photo, replaced by a new pair.

After some searching, I found a dining photo he posted five days earlier, where half of a woman's bottom was in the frame, wearing the exact same swim trunks. They were even pinned with a safety pin due to being too large.

Could my husband be cheating?

To verify my suspicion, I asked him about it when he returned. Instead of stammering, he smoothly told me that he had lost the trunks.

"Honey, this is so embarrassing. You know those trunks? Guess what? While I was swimming in the sea, I didn't tie the drawstring tight enough, and they got washed away!"

He slapped his thigh as he spoke, using a tone as if he was telling a funny story, which he often did to joke with me before.

But now, I coldly watched his performance.

This day was our fifth wedding anniversary, which he had completely forgotten.

Seeing that he hadn't made me laugh, he fell silent and voluntarily put his arm around my shoulder.

"Honey, I'll take better care of the things you give me in the future. Don't be angry, okay?"

He pouted and made a face at me, something I used to love when we were dating.

But now, looking at Frank's greasy face, I suddenly felt a wave of regret.

When he was pursuing me, he was the least attractive among all my suitors, but he had a gentle temperament and his career was on par with mine.

I thought choosing an unattractive man would ensure loyalty and faithfulness. I didn't expect that men's inherent flaws have nothing to do with looks.

That afternoon, the company notified me of overtime work. I went to the underground parking lot to get my car. My husband and I each had a car, but mine was being serviced at the dealership, so I took his.

Relying on a woman's keen sixth sense, I detected an unusual signal - the passenger seat had been moved, reclined at least 15 degrees more than usual.

Someone had sat in our private car.

We bought this comfortable Mercedes SUV when we decided to try for a baby, thinking of our future child's comfort.

I have a sensitive nose, and a faint fishy smell in the air subtly reminded me: they had made love in this car.

And to make it convenient, they had adjusted the seat angle.

My eyes scanned the car seat, and sure enough, I found a small section of black fabric peeking out from the gap in the passenger armrest.

I pulled it out - it was a pair of panties, with particularly sexy and eye-catching lace trim.

I tucked away this evidence, pretending nothing had happened.

A few days later, a bikini was stuffed in the same place.

I coldly gripped it, but this time I noticed something different.

I caught a faint whiff of perfume on the bikini. It was a new light fragrance from LV's early summer collection, which I had tried on by chance while shopping at the mall.

For this clue, I specifically met with many suspicious individuals, including my husband's female colleagues and classmates.

Finally, I discovered that only my goddaughter, Mia, wore the exact same scent.

When she saw me, she was as affectionate as ever, snuggling up to my arm.

"Godmother, did you miss me? I've been looking for a job recently. When should we have dinner together?"

It was then that I noticed the once skinny high school girl I first met had grown into a tall, curvaceous young woman.

I heard she had even undergone breast augmentation surgery earlier this year to enhance her beauty. Judging by the size, it should be about the same as the bikini I found.

Mia was a student we had sponsored for four years, and she had just graduated from university.

In my eyes, she was excellent in both character and studies, and should have been able to find a better future.

Could it be that she was also confused, thinking she could climb the social ladder and transform from a sparrow to a phoenix by being my husband's mistress?